


If Only You Knew

by CallMeHopeless



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: About the same age, Alternate Universe - College/University, But Viktor doesn't mean it., M/M, Viktor is very popular, Yuuri is a bit of a nerd, Yuuri is not, a bit of bullying maybe?, college students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 16:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9500279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeHopeless/pseuds/CallMeHopeless
Summary: In which the boys are College students and don't like each other. When Yuuri looses something important to him, things start to change.Or: Viktor is trying to hide his feelings by being a bit of a bully and Yuuri is trying not to fall for someone who uses 'four-eyes' as an insult.





	1. Chapter 1

„Watch where you're going, geek.“

Yuuri rolled his eyes at that and turned around.

“How original. Did you come up with that yourself?”

His comeback was met with stony silence. He stared at the boy opposite him and tried not to blink.

 

It had started in the very first semester on the very first day. Yuuri had been so excited about going to college. He had been excited about meeting new people and studying a subject he actually wanted to know things about (there was nothing he hated more than maths... and numbers... and other various whatnots to do with calculators). He had been excited about moving to another country (namely: Detroit in the United states of America) and excited about living on his own and then _he_ had happened. Viktor Nikiforov.

He was also an international student so the student caunsellor had thought it a brilliant idea to team them up for all upcoming activities to get to know the campus and the college. Yuuri had seen him the minute he had walked into the room. Because it was really very unlikely not to see Viktor. He was gorgeous. He was incredibly beautiful and self confident and all of that made it very hard for Yuuri not to stare. When the caunsellor had announced that they would be teaming up together, he was ecstatic. He tried not to let it show on his face but on the inside, he victory-danced until outside Yuuri was slightly out of breath.

At first, he had thought that Viktor showing him the cold shoulder had to do with not being so confident after all. But he continued to shut Yuuri out all week. He had ignored him and when he hadn't done that, he had scowled at him.

On Friday, the last day of freshmen week, Yuuri had had it.

“Look. It would mean a lot to me if we could at least be friendly with each other,” he said while binding their feet together at the ankles for some kind of trust inducing activity.

“I mean you obviously don't like me,” he paused to give Viktor the chance to make things right and correct him but when he didn't, Yuuri just sighed and continued:

“Viktor, you are the only person here that I know. I just spent a week getting to know you and I feel like the only thing I do actually know is your name and that you don't like me.”

“What's that ring?” Viktor interrupted, pointing at Yuuri's left hand.

“I... huh?” Yuuri was confused but looked at his own hand none the less.

“This, oh that is just...er, I saw it and liked it so I bought it.”

“Is it some kind of engagement ring?”

“What?” Yuuri blushed furiously.

“No! It's kind of... a fashion thing if you will.”

Viktor nodded thoughtfully.

“A fashion thing...”

He stared at the ring a moment longer and Yuuri thought he saw a small smile on his face until he shook his head and scowled once again.

“Get our ankles done already. I want to get this over with.”

Yuuri had just sighed and continued to bind them together.

 

He would have thought that that had been about it. He thought that after that week, they would maybe see each other around or walk by each other in the hallway, maybe even saying hello.

What really had happened was that Viktor became incredibly popular very quickly (Yuuri couldn't blame them. He was _so_ handsome.) and Yuuri had become the silent nerd, who was only invited to sit with other people for lunch when they needed help on one of their assignments. And then, the name calling had started.

Whenever Viktor saw him, he called him something along the lines of geek, nerd or when he was in very high spirits and Yuuri was wearing his glasses, he called him four eyes.

Yuuri didn't know what he'd ever done to him but kept silent at first. Until he didn't want to anymore.

 

They were staring each other down in the hall, Viktor clearly taken aback by Yuuri's retort.

“Did you just... talk back at me?”

Yuuri pushed up his glasses and looked straight back:

“Guess I did.”

The two boys following Viktor everywhere (Yuuri really ought to find out their names... but he couldn't really be bothered) were staring at them wide eyed, making noises as if they were in a gang film and it 'was about to go down'.

Viktor smiled crookedly.

“I guess I will have to show you your place, then.”

He tried closing the distance between them but with every step he took forward, Yuuri took one backwards until he hit the wall and there was nowhere to go. Viktor still came at him, slowly, like a hunter would approach his pray and placed one hand next to Yuuri's head. He leaned in and Yuuri almost shivered when he could feel Viktor's hot breath against his ear.

“Keep away from me. Yuuri.” Viktor whispered and Yuuri involuntarily closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Viktor was nowhere to be seen. He slouched down the wall and sat there, trying to control his breathing.

What the hell had just happened?

He could still feel Viktor right next to him, in his personal space. He knew he really should hate him for the name calling. But he found he couldn't. And not just because Viktor was really attractive but because his insults were just a little bit pathetic. And because of the fact that he seemed to be nice to everyone else.

Yuuri had never heard anyone badmouthing him. Every girl wanted him (and some of the boys) and (the rest of) the boys wanted to be like him. There had to be a reason for that. Yuuri even saw how nice he was to other people. Any girls that would confess their love to him, he would smile at them sadly and tell them that he just didn't feel the same way. Whenever boys needed a substitute for whatever sport they were doing, he was in.

Yuuri simply didn't understand. Why did Viktor hate _him_?

 

He liked to complain about this to the only friend he had: Phichit. They had met at a concert of their favourite band and had started texting all of the time. Sadly, Phichit had just been in Detroit for one semester and was back in Thailand. They still kept in touch. And he was there a couple of times when Viktor had been... talking to Yuuri. So naturally, Yuuri immediately texted him.

 

**V just called me names in the hall. And then backed me up against a wall and whispered in my ear.**

 

He only had to wait a couple of seconds before he got a reply.

 

**Kinky. Hope he bought you dinner before that.**

 

Yuuri laughed involuntarily. It didn't matter how bad he felt, Phichit could always lift his spirits.

 

He sent a reply back and made his way to the locker with his things and exchanged the books he carried around for the books he will need in his next lecture. Literary History of America. Should be fun.

At least it was a lecture in which he could relax. He had been incredibly relieved when he had attended the first session and Viktor had been nowhere to be seen. It was one of two subjects he didn't have with Viktor. He was glad and took notes when their professor talked about essays on abolishing slavery in the 18th century. And if he hummed one or two tunes of the musical Hamilton under his breath then it was nobody's business.

After class, he made a quick trip to the bathroom and when he was about to wash his hands, regretted it immediately. He had just pulled his ring off and put it on the side of the sink, when the door opened behind him and Viktor strode in.

He faltered for a second before apparently deciding that Yuuri wouldn't bite him and made his way to one of the sinks farthest away from him.

Yuuri felt hot all over due to the awkward silence that filled the room. He very quickly washed his hands, grabbed a few paper towels and fled.

What else was he supposed to do?

Especially after the scene the two of them had had earlier?

Unconsciously, Yuuri placed one hand over his ear and blushed. As much as he hated to admit it but having Viktor so close to him? Almost chest to chest? Feeling his breath? It had made Yuuri more than a little weak in the knees and he really couldn't use that kind of distraction right now.

He decided to skip the last lesson of the day. It was a small one with only 10 students. One of them Viktor. No thank you very much.

He made his way home, only stopping for curry at his usual Thai place.

Once in his dorm, he placed his take away on the small couch table and let himself plop down on the sofa, relishing the feeling of the big cushions surrounding him. He sighed. Whenever he closed his eyes he felt Viktor's closeness from only a couple of hours before.

“Jesus,” he muttered under his breath before unpacking his dinner and switching on the television. For some reason, he felt like a chick flick was exactly what he needed. Which is why he selected the film 'The Holiday' as it was one of his very favourite romance movies. And as much as he loved banter and hate turning to love between two characters? He really didn't think he could take it at that moment.

He sunk back into his pillows, balancing his curry on his chest and smiled when Kate Winslet started with her monologue.

It was only after the movie, when his dinner was gone and he was lying sleepily on his couch when he noticed that something was different. Something was... missing. He sat up straight as soon as he noticed what it was. Horrified, he looked down on his hand – his bare hand. His ring was missing. It wasn't so much the ring itself that comforted Yuuri but the mere presence of it had something calming about it. Whenever he was nervous, Yuuri would play around with the familiar metal on his hand. Plus, it was one of the few things he had brought from home.

He wrecked his mind, thinking about where he could have lost it but came up with nothing. Quickly, he went into his bedroom to check if he maybe had forgotten to put it on that morning. He tried to think about the incident with Viktor earlier and whether he had played around with it afterwards to relax but he couldn't think. Panicking, he searched the whole flat but it simply wasn't there. He sat back down on his sofa and felt tears prickling behind his eyes. It wasn't that the ring had been particularly beautiful. Or valuable. But right then, in that moment, he thought that he had never felt so incredibly alone before. With that in mind, the tears began to fall until he curled up on his sofa and fell asleep. Trying to outsleep the pang of pain and home sickness that suddenly overcame him. He would be fine. He had been so excited. So excited about all of it. Tomorrow would be better. He was sure of that.

 


	2. Chapter 2

When Yuuri walked up to his locker the next day, he sighed. He had tried looking for the ring again that morning but he hadn't had any luck. He knew that he could simply get a new one but he thought that it wouldn't be the same. So picture his surprise, when he opened his locker and there it was. Lying on top of his literary history book.

He smiled and felt tears prickling in his eyes. Slowly, he picked it up and put it back to where it belonged: his ringfinger.

 

After that, he was in very high spirits all day. It got even better, when he was looking for a quiet place to study and he came across an empty seminar room. He slid in and walked to the front. There was a small corner which wasn't really visible from the first half of the room and Yuuri felt like it was perfect. He plopped down on a chair, pulled the desk he was using even more into the corner and, still smiling softly, got out his laptop and textbook.

After all, there wasn't too much time left until the exams and Yuuri wanted to do really good. He didn't see a problem for half of his subjects but there were one or two he was really nervous about. One being French. Why the hell had he thought it a good idea to learn French? He really didn't know. He got his book out anyway and started revising the vocabulary.

Suddenly, the door opened and he heard voices. He feared that he would have to leave if he were discovered (it was probably maintanance, he thought) the room so he tried keeping as quiet as possible and even edged more into the corner.

“So, here we are.”

Yuuri realised with a start who that voice belonged to, and it wasn't maintenance. It was: Viktor.

He snapped his eyes shut until it got almost painful and tried not to breathe. He was having a really good day and there was no way that he would have a confrontation with Viktor to destroy that.

“Uhm, thank you for coming.”

Wait, that wasn't the voice of his usual cronies, Yuuri thought. This was a girl. He knew he really shouldn't listen in on the conversation so he tried reading his French book again and failed miserably. He listened to the girl telling Viktor how she had always admired him from afar and how he was the love of her life.

Yuuri shook his head. Seriously. Love of her life? From just _seeing_ him _from afar_?

Girls were a mystery to him sometimes.

“I'm really sorry. I am really flattered by your confession and I think you are beautiful but I'm sorry, I can't reciprocate your feelings.”

“Why,” she hiccuped, “why not?”

“Well,”

Yuuri had never heard Viktor use such a soft voice before and if he was honest, he found it incredibly cute. He shook his head. No! He had sworn himself that he would never find Viktor cute again. He used _four-eyes_ as an insult. There had to be something seriously wrong with him. Yuuri nodded like he had just decided to go to a war. No more finding Viktor cute. Absolutely not.

“I'm in love with someone else.”

At that, Yuuri's eyes went wide. He had never thought about Viktor as someone who was capable of feelings.  Well obviously he was but Yuuri just never thought about it.  He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Who he was jealous of, he wasn't exactly sure. One thing he did know however, was that he failed at not finding Viktor cute again.

“Who?” the girl asked and Yuuri flinched at how mad she sounded.

“Look, I...”

“I asked you one simple question: Who?” she repeated, almost gritting it out through her teeth.

Yuuri leaned forward slightly, hoping that he could see something but the only thing he could see was the back of Viktor's head. That wasn't helping...

Suddenly, Viktor laughed.

“I'm sorry but I don't owe you anything, I don't understand why you are so mad?”

“I'm mad because I am wasting my time loving you and then you tell me there is a girl that is better than me? Is she smarter? More beautiful?”

Viktor laughed again.

“Firstly, I'm really sorry that you are wasting your time and secondly: good thing it's not a girl at all, then. Maybe that will calm you down a bit. Now, i'd like it if you left.”

“What?”

“Oh boy, which part didn't you comprehend?”  
  
“Are you... gay?”

“If you mean am I in love with a boy, yes, yes I am.”

“Is he...”

“You don't know him.”

Yuuri didn't dare to breathe and his head was spinning. Viktor was gay? That explained so much. That even explained why he was so mean to Yuuri, he thought. Because Yuuri _was_ really bad at hiding his feelings and he _must have_ stared at Viktor once or twice a bit too long for comfort...

Or, maybe Viktor wasn't properly out of the closet yet and he was afraid that Yuuri could expose him or...

“What are you doing here?”

Yuuri startled and hit his knees on the underside of the desk.

“Ow,” he muttered, holding his knee and stroking the place where it hurt. He finally looked up and saw Viktor looming over him, looking incredibly stern.

“I er, I'm just studying,” Yuuri said and studied Viktor's face.

There was a boy in the world he loved. One boy who he would never call four-eyes, Yuuri reckoned. One boy who was allowed to kiss these... Alright, this was getting out of hand.

“Sure. Listening in on other people's conversations is rude, you know?”

“I – I was here first!” Yuuri muttered and blushed. He didn't know why because usually he wasn't but right in that moment, he felt incredibly nervous to be around Viktor.

“Right,” Viktor said but made no move to leave but sighed instead.

“You were really nice to her,” Yuuri blurted out suddenly, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply once because: _You were really nice to her?_ What was he thinking? What kind of answer did he expect?

When he opened them again, Viktor was watching him with an unreadable expression.

“Yes well, can't go telling her to fuck off, can I?”

“No,” Yuuri felt really stupid for asking.

There was an uncomfortable silence in which Yuuri played around with his ring and Viktor stared out of the window.

“But if you must know, I once had a crush on someone and told them and they laughed right in my face. That day, I vowed that I would never do that.”

Without looking at Yuuri, he stood up and walked towards the door.

“I think that's nice,” Yuuri finally mumbled, not thinking that Viktor would hear but he stopped short. After a moment, he turned around and fixed Yuuri with an inquiring stare.

“Well, do you do it differently?”

Yuuri was taken aback by the question and then started laughing.

“Are you kidding me? I've never had someone tell me they love me. Especially not from afar,” he pointed at himself, “ _way_ too clumsy and weird to be a person someone else likes,” he grinned. It only faded when he saw that Viktor didn't grin back.

Which was weird because he had thought that mocking himself would set Viktor off and he would get his daily fix of pathetic insults but he just stood there.

“Everyone is liked by someone.”

This had gotten interestingly serious, Yuuri thought.

“Even people like Peter?” he asked, in hopes that it would make the atmosphere lighter. Pat was one of those really weird kids they had a few courses with. He always laughed out loud in random moments and had the incredible urge to draw a penis wherever he could.

Viktor smiled.

“Maybe not Peter.”

He turned around and left.

Yuuri hadn't even noticed how fast his heart was beating until he could almost hear it in the silent room.

He thought about that last smile Viktor had given him and realised that that had been the very first smile.

The very first smile Viktor had directed at him and Yuuri really knew he shouldn't but he closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to leave the impression imprinted on his eye-lids forever.

He tried studying for a bit but gave it up soon because now all he could think about was Viktor Nikiforov being in love with a boy and smiling at Yuuri.

He packed his bag and went home, all the while playing around with his ring.

As soon as he walked into his room, he lay on his bed, smiling.

He felt like he was on top of the world and there was no concrete reason for it.

 

*

 

After the classroom incident, Yuuri hadn't talked to Viktor in a couple of weeks. Although, Viktor hadn't changed at all. Whenever he looked at Yuuri, it was with a mix of annoyance and disgust. The part Yuuri hated most however, was how Viktor now made his followers mock him. He was okay with it when Viktor called him a geek. Turned out, he wasn't fine with it when real live Crabbe and Goyle did it.

 

Annoyed with himself and with Viktor, he went out of his way to avoid him. Which was really working for him, he felt like completely getting over his little crush until _it_ happened.

 

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Yuuri looked up and into the face of a girl he had seen before but never really talked to.

“Sure, what's up?”

She smiled and indicated his ring.

“I just wanted to know, uhm... this is awkward actually, I was wondering whether you two are an item?”

Yuuri blinked a couple of times.

“An item?”

“Yeah because you know... people wear the same ring when they are... together.”

Yuuri looked at his hand and studied his ring.

“Huh?”

“So, are you?”

“Who exactly is wearing the same ring?”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes, not sure he wanted to know the answer to that. It was his ring and his ring alone and he didn't want anyone to interfere with the safety it gave him.

“Well, Viktor Nikiforov of course.”

Yuuri sat on his seat, shocked. He stared at the girl trying to comprehend what she had just said.

“Viktor Nikiforov is wearing the same ring I'm wearing,” he repeated trying to make sense of it.

She just nodded enthusiastically.

“So you two are not a couple? In that case, would you mind telling me where you have bought it? Because,” she blushed a little “I would love to have the same ring Viktor has,” she trailed off.

Yuuri just looked at her:

“Sorry, er, I bought mine at a small shop in Japan, I don't even remember where exactly I have it from...”

She nodded, smiling.

“Alright, thank you anyway.”

With that she left, leaving behind an incredibly confused Yuuri.

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

Over the course of the next couple of days, Yuuri couldn't even go through one class without being asked about the ring.

He hadn't seen Viktor since it had gotten to his attention that he was wearing the same one but he was glad. He wouldn't know how to react anyway.   


Because on one hand, it annoyed him to no end. On the other hand... _Viktor Nikiforov_ was wearing the same ring he was.

He was on his way to the bathroom, when his phone vibrated.

 

** Did you find him? You married yet? **

 

Phichit. Yuuri had told him right after that first girl had asked him about it and for some reason, his friend had thought it quite hilarious and kept asking him if he could be the bridesmaid (and why was Yuuri the bride, anyway?).

 

In the bathroom, he kept staring at himself in the mirror, hoping that no one would come in and see. He felt like everything was happening in slow motion and he didn't know how to stop it. He sighed audibly before turning on the water. If someone had told him that studying would be so exhausting he would have thought about it twice. Especially since the exhausting part wasn't even the actual studying part.   


He needed a clear head. Slowly, he took off his ring and put it on the side of the large sink before splashing cold water in his face.

It felt so good doing so, that he repeated the motion a couple of times, relishing the feeling of the cold water connecting with his heated up skin and cooling it. 

“Oi,” someone suddenly said next to him.

Yuuri's head snapped up and he tried to see through the water running down his face. He had been absorbed in his own little bubble that he didn't hear someone come in. He couldn't see very much because of the water dripping from his eyelashes, but that colour of hair could not be mistaken.

“Viktor?”

“You idiot,” he growled.

“You made me all wet!”

Yuuri let his gaze drop down to Viktor's shirt and sure enough, there was a large wet spot.

“Oh god,” he felt his face heat up again.

“I am so sorry,” he quickly got some paper towels and bent down to try and dry it off. He was on eye-level with the spot and softly dapped on it until he suddenly stilled.   


His mind was catching up with the situation and he felt like he would need a bucket of ice water to cool his head now.   


What was he doing?

Was he seriously rubbing at Viktor's chest with paper towels?

He stood up abruptly and didn't trust himself to look Viktor in the eye. All thoughts about rings forgotten.

“Er, sorry.”

There was a short pause. 

“Yeah, you better be. This is my best shirt and I still have three classes to attend to today. I should just make you give me your shirt,” Viktor said but it sounded hoarse.  


At that, Yuuri's eyes shot up again.

“You, what?”

“Don't worry, I won't,” he mumbled, looking slightly flustered. He sighed audibly before taking his ring from the side of the sink. Yuuri let his eyes roam over it, lips slightly open. It really _was_ the same ring he was wearing. 

The same shade of silver, the same small braid in the middle in a darker shade. 

“What are you looking at?” 

Yuuri snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his fellow student.

“Nothing,” he mumbled quickly. Viktor narrowed his eyes and was about to say something but Yuuri really wasn't in the mood for being called names. Or worse, Yuuri would be truly heartbroken if Viktor said something _actually cruel_.   


So he quickly added:

“I'm just gonna go,” grabbed his own ring and left.

Only when he was outside of the university, he willed his heart to slow down. He remembered the look on Viktor's face after he had molested him with the towel. And then he remembered the towel and how he could feel Viktor's toned chest underneath. He immediately blushed furiously. What was he thinking? The guy was an absolute jerk. Granted, he didn't use one of his insults today, but Yuuri reckoned that was because he was irritated by the whole situation himself.

Sighing, Yuuri pulled the ring out of his pocket and tried putting it on his index finger, where he always wore it. 

“Huh?” he said out loud when it wouldn't fit. 

He tried again and again and again.

Nothing. Just like he had gained 30 pounds in the last couple of minutes. He tried the ring on his ringfinger: a perfect fit.  

Weird, he thought. 

He kept it on anyway and started thinking about whether or not it was actually possible to gain weight by just having an awkward conversation. Maybe the awkwardness was trying to leave his body and...

No. He was being silly. But it was weird, wasn't it?

He slowly made his way to his next class, still trying to calm down. Maybe he should take up yoga. Or meditation. He'll look into courses at his local fitness studio, he vowed. Maybe get some phamphlets. Because it probably wasn't good for his heart to constantly get worked up. He knew it wasn't good for his neves, at least. He needed to relax...

Which was clearly not happening in his next class because as soon as he walked in, he was immediately surrounded by girls.

“Are you wearing it on your ringfinger now? Does that mean you and Viktor have gotten engaged?” and many more similar questions, followed by a lot of aw-ing, happened for the rest of the day.

Yuuri had to take the ring off at one point because he would have freaked out and screamed if he was asked one of these questions one more time. Because no, they most definately were not enganged. But as for everything else? Yuuri was confused. He had no idea what had happened and thinking about getting married to Viktor really didn't help. He safely stored the ring in his pocket and only slipped it on again when he was on his way home. 

On the train, the finally found the time to reply to Phichit's text:

 

** According to the student body, we have gotten engaged today. **

 

A few seconds later, his phone chimed:

 

** I am so going to call you later and you are so going to tell me everything about it. **

 

He was glad to at least have Phichit on his side. Even if that meant to relive today's events and discuss them in disgustingly small detail.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Yuuri had never been this glad about the weekend before.

He usually wasn't the biggest fan of two uni free days. He spent them in the library most of the time, anyway. But the weekend meant empty halls (or at least almost empty. Usually, only the friend-less and knowledge-craving were there) and no weird ring-related questions.

After all, Yuuri didn't need anyone to ask questions if he had enough to fill a book himself.

He found himself a spot in the corner of the library. Found a desk where no one could really see him, folded his arms on it and propped up his head on them, ready to sleep. He really hadn't gotten much sleep for the past few days. Viktor kept popping up whenever he closed his eyes.

Viktor.

What was it about him?

Yuuri had no idea why his heart kept racing whenever they had an encounter.

He was so confused, he couldn't really like him, could he?

Not this jerk who hadn't been nice to him for one second?

And then he remembered the scene where the two of them met in the classroom after that girl declared her love for Viktor.

Yuuri sighed.

You could call that encounter civil, Yuuri called it wonderful.

The biggest problem about this crush (and yes, Yuuri did have to admit that to himself), was that since Viktor wore a _similar_ ring to his, people kept thinking they were together (or engaged) and that automatically triggered very inappropriate daydreams on Yuuri's side.

He kept thinking about what it would be like to date Viktor. Would they go out together? Would Viktor hold his hand?

Would he...

Yuuri blushed even though he was completely alone in his section of the library,

would he _kiss_ him?

Unconsciously, he brought up his fingers to his lips. What would it be like to kiss Viktor?

The more he thought about it, the further his thoughts went. How many people knew how it was like to kiss Viktor?

Yuuri at least knew that he hadn't kissed anyone they both knew. Which – if he was honest – didn't say much because Yuuri really wasn't a people-person.

Yuuri got out his phone and decided to text Phichit. He was getting nowhere on his own:

 

**I think I have a crush on V.**

 

He didn't have to wait long for a response:

 

**I could have told you that ages ago.**

 

Yuuri smiled. He had no idea what he would do without Phichit, even though he was miles away, living a completely different life. But trust his friend to not make a big deal out of things.

It kind of brought Yuuri back to reality. Having a crush wasn't that bad. He should just enjoy it. Maybe have a couple of those day dreams, why not? Viktor never had to know.

He got out his notebook and actually went to do some research.

He was in a much better mood now. Maybe this whole thing wasn't so bad.

 

*

 

All in all, Yuuri had had a good weekend. He got some work done and endulged himself in a couple of very (in)appropriate fantasy dates with Viktor (just fyi, Viktor was fabulous at ice skating, gave Yuuri his jacket whenever he got cold and put his hand around Yuuri's shoulders at the cinema).

Life was good when he arrived at university on Monday. The only thing that nagged on him a bit was the fact that he wouldn't have any classed with Viktor that day. Too bad.

Sighing, he put down his bag, ring twinkling in the sunlight that streamed through the large windows.

He wore it on his ringfinger now. He had come to terms with it and had decided that he should lay off the katsudon for a while. He would soon be able to wear it on his index again.

Content, he plopped into one of the chairs and got his notebook out, getting himself ready for the lecture.

More and more people streamed in – a flock of giggling girls, amongst others.

They kept glancing at him and sighing or giggling but Yuuri hummed under his breath anyway. This was how good his day was going.

Suddenly, the girls fell completely silent. Only when Yuuri could feel the presence of someone standing next to his desk, he looked up and straight in Viktor's incredibly mad face.

“You idiot,” he growled very lowly so that only Yuuri could hear.

“You took my ring last week.”

Yuuri held up his hand and looked at the ring he was wearing. Suddenly, with a small 'cling', something landed on his desk.

“Here is yours,” Viktor said and combed his fingers through his hair in exasperation.

Yuuri picked up the second ring and held it next to his.

“They look identical,” he murmured and couldn't stop looking at them.

“Yes, now give me back mine.”

Yuuri snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Viktor irritated.

“What makes you think, that this one is yours?”

Viktor's eyebrows shot up.

“What do you mean? I know because I always wear mine on my left middle finger and since I met you in the bathroom last week, it only fits on my right ring finger because er,” he blushed “because that one is a bit thi- never mind. It only fits on my right ringfinger, alright?”

Yuuri looked down on his hand again and laughed.

“Right,” he finally said and pulled his ring off. And he thought he had gained weight, phew.

He gave the ring to Viktor and smiled at him. Viktor didn't smile back. His cheecks were still slightly red and he just grabbed the ring, turned around and left.

“Well, goodbye then,” Yuuri sighed before picking up the ring Viktor had so carelessly dropped on his desk.

If this was his ring (and curiously, it fit perfectly on his index finger), it had spend the whole weekend with Viktor. It had spend time _on_ Viktor's hand, attached to it. 

Somehow, that thought made it harder for Yuuri to breathe.

He held up his hands to his lips and softly touched the ring to them.

Viktor had worn it for three whole days. Yuuri closed his eyes and sighed.

_He_ had worn Viktor's ring for three days.

Luckily, the lecture started before the girls could say anything to Yuuri, even though they kept darting curious glances in his direction. Yuuri didn't notice. He didn't notice what the lecturer talked about either.

His thoughts were on rings attached to hands attached to the most attractive prat he had ever met. And he knew that he was truly and utterly fucked.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooorry you guys for the long wait!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm not quite sure whether I'll be able to upload next week, I thought I'd upload another chapter now :)

He hadn't seen Viktor in a few days and it started to irritate him. It wasn't like Viktor to not show up to classes.

Yuuri was sitting at his desk, half heartedly listening to the lecturer, always glancing around for silver hair but to no avail. Viktor simply wasn't there.

After class, someone tapped on his shoulder. When he turned around, he came face to face with a very cute girl. She had black hair to her shoulders and wore glasses. She wasn't overly 'made up' and seemed nervous.

“Hi, Yuuri,” she started, not really looking at him.

“Look, I am... I am really sorry but you are quite close to Viktor, are you not?”

Before Yuuri could answer to that, she continued:

“I, I wanted to give him this letter for a week now but he isn't coming to class, so I was wondering whether... you could... maybe... give this to him?”

She looked at him with big hopeful puppy eyes and handed him an envelope on which she had written _For Viktor_ in an elegant script. On the back, she had drawn what seemed like a hundred tiny red hearts and Yuuri just couldn't...

“Alright,” he said, taking the envelope and forcing a smile.

“I will give it to him when I see him.”

She thanked him (for a moment, Yuuri wasn't sure if she was about to hug him) and rushed out of the room, leaving Yuuri standing there with a weird ache in his heart and a love letter in his hands that wasn't even for him. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

 

At least he now had something important to give to Viktor (or so he told himself), so it would not be weird if he went searching for him, would it?

He ran into his little minions in the hall but without Viktor there, they didn't seem in the mood to be assulting him.

“Can you tell me where Viktor is?”

“Into getting beat up, are we? So kinky,” one of them said half heartedly before the other just pointed into the direction of the stairs.

“On the rooftop.”

They both turned away then and Yuuri turned to the staircase. What the hell was Viktor doing on the rooftop?

Usually, nobody was allowed on the rooftop. Yuuri didn't want to go anyway because the door only opened from the inside which meant that when you forgot to keep the door open, you would be in for a real treat. And Yuuri had no desire to be held captive on the roof until someone found him.

He walked up anyway. Two, three flights of stairs until he reached the narrow staircase that led to the roof. He swallowed audibly once, not knowing what was going to happen. The letter was clutched tightly in his hands and he prayed that he didn't sweat on it because his hands felt incredibly clammy.

The first thing he saw when he walked into the open space of the roof, was silver hair. Viktor was leaning against one of the railings, looking out over the city. One hand laid-back in his pocket, the other lazily entwined in the wired fence.

He looked like supermodel, Yuuri thought.

He coughed once, to let Viktor know he was there.

“I know you are standing right behind me, Katsuki. I could hear you trampling up the stairs.”

He sighed and turned around. The slight breeze blew through his hair and Yuuri was temporarily left speechless.

“Right,” he said after a couple of seconds.

“This girl came up to me today and -”

“Very good for you, Katsuki, an admirer. Is she not able to _see_?”

Yuuri got a bit impatient.

“Well, the one she is not able to see _or_ hear is _you_. She gave me this for you,” he said loudly to make himself clear over the wind and walked towards Viktor, trying to hand the letter over. Viktor stared at the letter and immediately lost all of his facial features.

Yuuri couldn't help but stare. For some reason, Viktor looked incredibly vulnerable.

“Just, take it,” Yuuri urged and handed the letter over, only for Viktor to hold it and continue the staring.

“Why, why did she give it to you?” he finally asked, looking at Yuuri questioningly.

Yuuri just shrugged, feeling himself blush a little.

“I don't know, she said she had the impression we were kind of close and, er, yeah.”

“Close? Us two?”

Yuuri nodded, not looking at Viktor. God, this was so embarrassing, what had he been thinking?

When he glanced at Viktor again, he was regarding the letter with great distaste.

“She came up to a boy to ask him to give another boy a love letter from her?”

“Well, er, apparently.”

Because Yuuri felt awkward just standing there, he positioned himself next to Viktor, leaning on the railing as well (but keeping a very safe distance to his crush).

“Girls,” Viktor said after a couple of minutes of awkward silence. He sighed, looked at the hearts again, then at Yuuri.

In one swift movement, he was standing right in front of Yuuri, their faces only inches apart.

“Why did you take it?” he wanted to know.

“The letter?” Yuuri shakily breathed in. Viktor was so close. So close. Way too close. Yuuri hid his hands behind his back so Viktor would not see them shaking.

“Yeah, the letter.”

Yuuri shrugged, trying to seem non-chalant.

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Not take it.”

“But she looked so fragile. She was cute, you know, like-” but Yuuri didn't get to say what she was like.

Viktor tangled his hands in the fence on each side of Yuuri's head as if to keep him there and kissed him, hard.

At first, Yuuri couldn't comprehend what was happening. He felt Viktor's weight on his, his lips, his chest, everything was flush against him. And in any other situation, Yuuri would have loved that. Jesus, this was what he dreamed about at night! But he couldn't, he just...

He shoved at Viktor's chest and broke the kiss. He just stared at Viktor wide eyed.  
“What...” he said, not knowing how to continue.

Viktor's face was unreadable. For a split second, Yuuri thought he could see fear in it.

Slowly, Viktor untangled his hands from the fence and took a step back.

“Well,” he just said, running his hand through his hair and looking everywhere but at Yuuri.

“You kissed me,” Yuuri stated.

Viktor shrugged.

“It seemed to be the easiest way to shut you up.”

“But...”

"Would you rather I had kissed _her_? Because she's ' _so cute_ '?" he tried to say the last part in a voice that was supposed to resemble Yuuri's.

Yuuri could just stare.

“Look, you were making me mad, alright?” Viktor said, anger back in his voice.

“You make me so incredibly mad! Accepting bloody love letters on my behalf. Bringing them to me telling me the girl was cute... Just go,” he scratched the back of his neck and when Yuuri didn't immediately move, he shouted:

“Go!”

Without really thinking about it, Yuuri ran down the flights of stairs in record time. He stopped just outside the university, not able to go back in. Inside, there was Viktor. There was his first kiss. There was so much drama and love and Yuuri just couldn't take it. Couldn't think about the kiss because then he would have to think about the anger in Viktor's eyes afterwards. He would have to think about the disgust with which he had looked at him.

He got his phone out and dialled Phichits number who, surprisingly, immediately picked up.

“Phichit?”

“Yuuri, guess where I am at the moment, I'm in-”

“Viktor kissed me.”

Silence.

“What do you mean?”

“Viktor just kissed me. Phichit, I-”

“Alright, Yuuri, listen to me. I am in front of your apartment, just... get here asap!”

“You're...what?”

“Just get here!” Phichit cried and then the line was disconnected.

Yuuri rushed home and there he was, sitting on the pavement.

“Phichit, what are you doing here?” he asked excitedly when he hugged his best friend.

“I had nothing to do at home and this just seemed so much more exciting... and apparently, I came just in the right moment,” he urged Yuuri to open the door.

“I brought instant ramen and then you will tell me all about that kiss.”

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

After the incident to which Yuuri and Phichit _only_ referred to as ' _the incident'_ (because Yuuri still wasn't sure that kiss had actually happened), everything went back to normal.

Yuuri hated it.

He hadn't even noticed a change in Viktor's behaviour before but now that it was as it always had been, it was quite obvious. The friendly (or at least neutral) looks he'd given him. The minions who didn't mess with Yuuri that much anymore, the one or two moments where he had been alone with Viktor... all gone.

What was back in its place however was the deep lines on Viktor's forehead whenever he spotted Yuuri. The minions who called him 'freak' and made sure he tripped at least once a day. Viktor all but fleeing from a room should he find himself in there with Yuuri alone.

And Yuuri was confused. What was going on?

 

“Well, if you want my opinion...” Phichit mumbled thoughtfully while munching on his instant ramen he kept insisting on buying.

He had been staying with Yuuri for a week now and Yuuri didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse. Sure, it was lovely to have his best friend hang out with him. But if he had to come back to the flat smelling the aroma of instant soup one more time, he might scream. He scrunched up his nose at the noodle soup his friend was currently inhaling and asked:

“Are you sure you don't wanna eat something different sometime? I could cook something or get pizza...”

“Don't change the subject,” Phichit mumbled still slurping.

“So. My opinion. I think Viktor has a big, fat crush on you and feels rejected.”

At that Yuuri had to sort.

“Yeah, that's probably what has happened.”

Phichit shrugged.

“What else could it be? He was starting to be nice to you, kisses you out of the blue and when you push him away he's sulking.”

“I didn't push him...”, Yuuri thought about it and blushed.

“Yeah I pushed him away.”

He sighed.

“Phichit, come on. Seriously. I have this... I don't know what to call it...”

“Crush?” Phichit supplied, which made Yuuri sigh again.

“Alright then, crush. We both know that he would have mocked me in some way afterwards. I mean can you imagine? Me kissing him back? He would have had a field day telling everyone about it!”

At that, Phichit put his chopsticks aside and fixed Yuuri with a piercing glare.

“I want you to take a moment and think about what you have just said,” he said evenly.

“What?”

“That last sentence of yours. Think about it.”

“That he would have a field day telling everyone about it?”

Phichit nodded.

“What about it?”

His friend exhaled audibly before rolling his eyes.

“Viktor hates you, or so you say.”

“Yes.”

“He kissed you.”

“Yes.”

“Do you honestly really think that he would – if he really hated you – tell people that he kissed you? Never mind whether or not you kissed back. I mean just the fact itself. He kissed you. That's an awfully un-bullying thing to do, right?”

Yuuri stared at his friend, trying to comprehend what he was trying to tell him.

“So you mean...?”

“That he has a big, fat crush on you and wants to snog your face? Yeah mate, I mean.”

With that, he went back to his soup while Yuuri felt heat rising in his cheeks.

Phichit couldn't be right, could he?

Viktor had kissed him because... because...

Why had Viktor kissed him?

“I'm going to ask him,” Yuuri finally decided.

“Ask who, what?” Phichit asked through a mouth full of vegetables.

“I am going to ask Viktor why he kissed me!” Yuuri exclaimed and jumped from his sofa to get his coat.

“I'll be back!” he grinned before he rushed out of the door.

A completely stunned looking Phichit could only stare after his friend, mumbling: “Bye...”

 

With new-found enthusiasm, Yuuri made his way to the university. A quick glance at his watch told him that it was just after two and he hoped that Viktor still had classes somehow. What he had not anticipated however, was the mass of people streaming in the direction of the university sports area.

Yuuri spotted one of the girls from his class and jogged up to her:

“Hey, what's going on?”

“Oh, it's the ice hockey game today and one of the players broke his leg in training and can't play,” she said way too cheerily.

“Guess who's playing instead,” she winked.

“Viktor.”

Yuuri's face went hot.

“What?” he asked, feeling breathless all of a sudden.

“You didn't know?”

She glanced at his ring-free hand (he just couldn't handle the thoughts flooding his head whenever he looked at it) and sighed:

“You two having trouble then?”

“We are not together,” Yuuri said, trying to sound firm but by the looks of it failing because the girl just laughed.

“So then you can come see him play with me.”

She tugged on his arm and just continued walking to the university-own ice rink.

They sat down in the middle of the stands and Yuuri got more and more nervous. Was it really a good idea to watch Viktor play a sport? Wouldn't he just crush even more on him? Yuuri did like a bloke in a uniform, didn't matter which kind... what was it the ice hockey team wore again? All black? Yeah, he could see Viktor in all black.

He shook his head furiously and told himself to focus.

The girl next to him (he really ought to ask her for her name), squeezed his arm when the bell sounded and the players skated onto the ice.

Instantly, all of the eyes in the room were glued to one skater and Yuuri knew why. He looked absolutely gorgeous. The uniform _was_ all black and Viktor's helmet was stuck lazily under his right arm, which gave him a look of absolute confidence. His silver hair was falling perfectly around his face and looked absolutely beautiful against the black of his outfit. And his eyes... Yuuri really needed to stop talking about his eyes, he couldn't really see them from his point anyway, until...

Until two eyes practically burned into his. Yuuri could only stare as Viktor had spotted him and stared at him for all of five seconds before breaking the eye contact.

Once more, the girl next to him squeezed his arm, whispering excitedly:

“He saw you, he saw you!”

Yuuri's heart sank. He couldn't even keep eye contact inside an ice-rink. How the hell was he supposed to confront the man in front of him about something like a kiss? He knew that he was reading too much into it. He would just ask him. He would just go up to him and ask "Hey Viktor, why did you kiss me?" he would. He really would. But for now, he would try to follow a game which he knew nothing about. For now, he would just concentrate on the feeling of the leg of the girl next to him against his. He would keep track on all of the players instead of just Viktor. He could deal with everything else later. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Yuuri just couldn't stop watching Viktor play. It wasn't _just_ the way he looked in that black outfit, it was how gracefully he moved on the ice. Like it was no effort at all, he slided back and forth. Yuuri didn't know anything about the sport but was absolutely captivated and, judging by the loud cheers from the people around him, he gathered that Viktor had done one or two (or a thousand) things right.

Nobody was more surprised than Yuuri, when Viktor suddenly called for a time out, symbolising that he needed to leave the field. Yuuri's eyes widened almost comically. He wasn't hurt, was he? A wave of worry overcame him and he didn't even have the nerves to feel embarrassed by it.

The second Viktor skated off the ice and another player took his place, Yuuri stood and rushed to the exit. He needed to make sure, see for himself that Viktor was alright. He tried getting through the people gathering everywhere to watch the game as quickly as he could without shoving anyone. He just felt the need to be out there as quickly as possible. Right outside the rink however, he noticed that he actually had no idea where to go. He looked around him hastily, contemplating where it was most likely the changing rooms were, when he suddenly heard a voice:

“Looking for me?”

He turned around quickly and froze. Viktor was standing directly in front of him, hair dripping wet and single droplets falling into the soft-looking material of his uniform.

“I...Viktor.”

He shook his head quickly and told himself to focus.

“Are you hurt?”

Viktor raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Slowly, he raised the towel he kept clutching and softly rubbed his hair dry (rather dry-er) with it.

“No,” he simply stated, regarding Yuuri with a weird look that Yuuri didn't quite know how to decipher.

“Then why did you leave the game? I mean in the middle of it?” Yuuri asked, folding his arms in front of his chest. He couldn't exactly say why but he felt vulnerable under Viktor's gaze.

Another moment of silence.

Yuuri was getting more and more restless, shifting from one foot to the other. What were they doing?

“I am not even on the team. I don't think it's fair if we win and I get some kind of special treatment...” Yuuri couldn't help but stare, Viktor actually blushed. His cheeks turned a lovely red and Yuuri only snapped out of it when Viktor was staring back at him, obviously waiting for an answer.

“Uh, sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, that I am quite surprised that you are here, I wouldn't have pegged you for a sports fanatic.”

“Oh I'm not.”

That earned him another raised eyebrow.

“I just, I mean, er,” he knew he was rambling but somehow he couldn't stop.

“I was there with, er, the girl next to me. She's in my class and invited me, so I came.”

Viktor's gaze turned hard and shielded off and it was only then that Yuuri realised how open it had been before. Even his shoulders looked tense now, Yuuri noticed.

“You ran out on your date?” Viktor suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Yuuri immediately blushed.

“No, I mean, no. It wasn't like that... she just saw me and I saw all the people and I thought huh, was is going on there? So I went and asked her and...” he suddenly stopped.

“I am rambling, I'm sorry.”

Viktor's face made some kind of grimace, like he was trying not to smirk.

“Right. You do that a lot, you realise.”

Yuuri looked at the ground, just nodding.

He felt rather than saw Viktor slowly walking towards him.

“You realise, it is incredibly infuriating just as much as it is endearing?”

Before Yuuri knew what was happening, Viktor reached for his hand and slowly pressed a soft kiss to the spot where his ring usually was.

He then stepped back and walked away. Without looking at Yuuri one more time, he called:

“See you, Katsuki!” over his shoulder and was gone.

Yuuri just stared after him, hand pressed to his chest. He could still feel the soft lips pressing onto it and when he closed his eyes, he could recall the picture on how Viktor had looked while doing it.

“Jesus Christ,” he murmured. He was aware that he was still beetroot red in the face and decided he should make his way home. On the other hand, that was where Phichit would be and since Yuuri really wasn't sure yet what had just happened, he wasn't sure Phichit's comments would be helping.

He shrugged. Maybe Phichits opinion on this was exactly what he needed.

Still careful not to touch anything with _the hand_ lest it got somehow... dirty, he made his way home, blushing every few steps because he just couldn't stop thinking about Viktor. He thought about their kiss and now that? How did a simple kiss to his finger feel even more intimate to Yuuri, he didn't know.

 

He was sure that Phichit could tell something had happened the minute he stepped through the door.

His friend was lounging on the couch, looking up briefly before jumping off his couch in an instant.

He just looked at Yuuri, silently asking him what it was.

“He kissed my hand,” he finally said, blushing again.

“He... what?”

Yuuri sat down at his kitchen table and Phichit immediately followed suit.

“I, he... he kissed my hand.”

And then, he told Phichit everything. He couldn't leave anything out even if he wanted to because he needed to tell someone, he needed to say it all out loud.

When he had finished, Phichit propped his arm up on the table to support his head and sighed.

“Man, you two are just so strange. Like. I know strange people, but you two... are the absolute worst.”

Yuuri nodded.

He knew.

He felt it, too.

He had no idea what was going on but somehow he felt lost and found at the same time.

 


	8. Chapter 8

The more Yuuri thought about Viktor, the angrier he got.

Who did he think he was anyway? Bullying Yuuri one minute, kissing him (or his hand) the next?

He would absolutely not continue to play this game.

He shook his head. He wouldn't. Crush, no crush, he wouldn't allow Viktor to play with him like he did.

After that revelation, he stormed into the bathroom and put his ring on his finger.

_There_ , he thought. _It's mine. I will wear it and I will not care about what people will say._

When he repeated all of this out loud to Phichit, his friend only clapped, saying a half-heartedly “Woho” and continued to watch television.

Yuuri nodded and packed his things for uni. He would show Viktor. He could play the game just as well.

With his mind set, he walked into the building almost an hour later and stormed up to his locker.

Before he could reach it however, he saw someone leaning against it, looking grumpy.

“And a very good morning to you too, Viktor,” Yuuri drawled, indicating his locker.

“You mind?”

Slowly, Viktor stood up straight, crossing his arms.

“Katsuki,” he acknowledged as if he hadn't been waiting in front of his locker and as if this meeting was pure coincidence.

“You wanna tell me what has you lingering in front of my locker, Nikiforov?”

He had never used the other's last name like that and he could see Viktor flinch.

“I wanted to... I need to talk to you.”

“About what?” Yuuri huffed, burying his face in his locker and trying to remain calm.

“I did things.”

Silence.

Yuuri took out some of the books he would need for the day and slammed the locker shut. He stared at the other boy, who suddenly looked nervous.

“Yes?” he prompted.

Viktor looked at him with a quizzical look, before saying:

“What happened between you and me is going to stay between you and me, or else.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes.

“Or else? You had better threats when I first met you.” He nodded.

“But sure, I really don't need people to know you felt the need to suck my face.”

There was a sharp intake of breath and when Yuuri turned to look at Viktor properly, he was blushing.

“You're wearing the ring again,”

he just said instead of commenting Yuuri's previous statement.

Yuuri nodded.

“It is mine.”

Viktor nodded back.

“Good then, problems solved. Good day.”

Yuuri's brow furrowed as he watched Viktor go. He had no idea what the hell just happened but he was kind of proud of himself for standing up for himself. Bravo, Yuuri. If he wasn't standing in a crowded corridor, he might have even patted himself on his back.

 

It was just Yuuri's luck, that his good mood didn't last.

When he sat down in one of his lectures, careful to avoid the space Viktor already occupied at the front, a girl stood next to him.

Yuuri did a double take. He had no idea who she was or why she was smiling at him like that.

“So Yuuri,” she started and Yuuri squinted his eyes at her. He didn't know yet what she had to say but judging from that smirk, it couldn't be good.

“I heard a rumour.”

Yuuri sighed. Another one of those? He thought he'd left all of that kind of drama behind when he left school.

“Alright then, hit me,” he mumbled while getting his notebook out.

“I head that Viktor has been spotted making a right scene when he saw you with this other bloke.”

“What other bloke?” Yuuri asked even though he immediately knew: The only person it could be was Phichit. Oh, this was rich.

“I don't know. Some other bloke. Nobody knows for sure, a friend of mine just overheard a friend of Viktor's talking about how much he freaked out about it.”

Yuuri nodded.

“So?”

“ _So_ ,” she started, “does Viktor have a reason to be jealous?”

Yuuri snorted.

“Have you seen him talk to me? Believe me, if he is jealous than it is not because of me.”

Her eyes widened suddenly before Yuuri's brain caught up with what he had just said.

Oh god. He would have to warn Phichit.

He had no idea how far these girls would go for their daily dose of drama.

 

*

 

Luckily, Phichit just laughed and shrugged.

“Well at least they're off your back now, right? I mean. I don't think anyone will actually come up to me and ask.”

“Seeing as you're not even leaving this apartment...”

“Hey,” Phichit turned around, threatening Yuuri with the spoon he was currently using to have a bowl of well-deserved ice cream.

“I have almost forgotten how good American TV is. Just let me have this.”

Yuuri nodded, grinning.

“Noted.”

Yuuri was glad that Phichit didn't shout at him for what he had said, what he had hinted at. It kind of satisfied him to think about what Viktor would have to say to that. For the first time, Yuuri felt like he had the upper hand.

 

*

 

One evening, right before the Christmas break, Phichit looked up from the TV and straight at Yuuri.

“Are you going to get Viktor something for his birthday?”

Yuuri scrunched his nose up.

“Why would I do that?”

Phichit rolled his eyes.

“Because you two are idiots and like each other really,” he gesticulated widely, “underneath all of that... foreplay...”

Yuuri spluttered.

“It's not foreplay, he is bullying me!”

Phichit nodded earnestly.

“Of course he is.”

“And anyway, you are supposed to be the one to get him something since you're the one he is allegedly in love with.”

“Allegedly, huh?”

Slowly, Phichit got up.

“Well then, let's get the idiot something for his birthday.”

Yuuri fixed his friend with an incredulous look.

“You can't be serious.”

“Oh, dead serious. This is getting boring, you haven't talked in a week. From the sound of it, I am more interesting to the gossipers than you are and Viktor seems to be in a mood. Let's get him something nice,” he explained while shrugging his jacket on.

Yuuri followed him out of the flat but only out of curiosity.

“And where do you suggest we go?”

Phichit shrugged.

“Dunno, let's just go to the main street and see if we find something fun.”

Together they walked around for a bit and Yuuri even forgot what their purpose was until he actually spotted Viktor. He immediately pulled Phichit into a small alleyway between two stores and watched as Viktor came down the street with a younger man who was – for lack of a better word – absolutely gorgeous. He wore shoulder long blonde hair and looked kind of grumpy, which suited him.

Yuuri's heart beat faster as Viktor squeezed the other man's shoulder, laughing loudly at something the other had said.

Without noticing it, Yuuri's fingers dug deep into Phichit's arm as he watched the two men walk past.

When they were out of sight, he turned to look at his friend who had fixed him with a pitying look.

“Dude...” is all he said, all he had to say. The pang of jealousy that had surged through Yuuri and his fast heartbeat were proof enough. 

Yuuri knew that he was truly and utterly screwed.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Yuuri didn't know why exactly, but seeing Viktor with that other man made his stomach twist and turn. He wasn't jealous, was he?

He shook his head.

Of course he was bloody jealous. There was someone in the world who Viktor laughed at, laughed with. Without any mean comments or sarcastic remarks, just Viktor and the other guy.

Yuuri longed for that kind of relationship. It was no wonder, that he didn't really want to keep shopping after they had seen what they had seen.

“Phichit, I think I'm gonna go home,” he mumbled while staring out in the main street.

Phichit sighed and put his hand on his friend's shoulder but said nothing.

When Yuuri turned to slowly walk the way back to his appartment, Phichit spoke up: “Do you mind if I continue shopping for a while?”

Yuuri shook his head.

“Be my guest.”

Yuuri just wanted to get home. And he wanted to forget Viktor ever existed. And he wanted to pretend like the two of them and every single word (or kiss) they had shared never happened.

To be frank, he was angry. He was bloody furious. Why was Viktor allowed to just _be_ , and do whatever he wanted and Yuuri was the one sulking on the way home, trying to get his head around the whole confusing part of him that longed for his class mate.

“Stupid,” he mumbled and kicked a stone out of his way.

Viktor made Yuuri sad. All of the time. Even when they were together, there would always be a point where Yuuri was overcome by a seemingly unbearable sadness. This couldn't be the kind of happy ever after he'd always wished for, even if Viktor was kind of a little bit into him, right? He had to be if he continued to kiss him in strange moments. 

Yuuri decided he deserved better.

He would go home, watch a romcom or two and then he would be going out and celebrate. Go for a drink, talk to a stranger (hopefully a handsome one) and who knew, maybe he would go home with someone. Okay, Yuuri knew that he would never actually go home with someone. But it was part of the new Yuuri persona he wanted to create for himself: Yuuri. fearless college student. kicking everyone in the balls who annoyed him (i.e. Viktor). awesome at everything. going home with hot guys from a bar.

Yuuri snickered. That sounded so unlike him that he had to laugh at himself. But why not? He could try, right?

So when he got home, he immediately went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

Going out look. Did he even have a going out look?

He stared at himself critically. He had never really gone out.

Maybe mess up the hair a bit? He tried going for that artfully tousled look he always saw on television but it always fell back into it's natural position on his head.

Next, he went to his wardrobe and took a look inside. Unsatisfied with everything he saw, he sent a quick text to Phichit saying: _Get me something cool to wear_ , before he continued trying to make his hair stand up from his head.

*

The first thing Phichit did when he walked into the appartment was drop his shopping bags to stare at Yuuri open-mouthed.

“Did you...?”

“Yes.”

“But...?”

“I know.”

“Is this why you wanted...?”

Yuuri nodded.

He had finally gotten his hair to look wild (with loads and loads of the hairspray his sister had forgotten when she had last visited him) and he actually liked it. It made him confident somehow.

“We're going out tonight,” Yuuri said conversationally as he sipped the tea he had just made himself.

“Out?”

“Yes.”

“Like in a bar?”

Yuuri nodded and Phichit didn't move.

“You never go out.”

“I do now.”

Phichit winced.

“Is this because of Viktor and the other guy?”

Yuuri shrugged.

“I just figured I deserve something and I deserve something great. I do not deserve being called 'four-eyes' and molested in university bathrooms.”

Phichit's features softened and he slowly walked over to hug his friend from behind as to not make him spill his beverage.

“You do,” he whispered softly.

“You deserve the greatest human being in this universe.”

He let go to get the bags he had so carelessly dumped on the floor and grinned.

“I got you some skinny jeans and a V-neck.”

Yuuri grimaced.

“A V-neck? Really? People might think I'm -”

“Gay?” Phichit supplied.

“- hipster,” was what actually followed from Yuuri and he glared at his friend.

“V-Necks are not gay, they are hipster,” he clarified.

Phichit grinned again and nodded.

“Sure they are.”

He held out the garments for Yuuri's inspection.

“Do you want to try them on?”

Yuuri nodded.

“I will put them on and then we'll leave.”

With a quick glance at the big clock on the living room wall, Phichit nodded.

“And then we'll leave.”

*

The bar was crowded but not uncomfortably so. Yuuri chose the bar most students from his uni frequented because he figured he would probably feel more comfortable in an environment that was partly familiar. Well he did see some familiar faces, anyway.

They got themselves a table and Phichit promised to be right back with their drinks so Yuuri glanced around.

He didn't know why he had never been in there, it looked nice. It had the kind of cool vibe where it was obvious that nobody had been trying to actually make it cool. The poster on the walls were seemingly picked at random because there were band posters, movie posters and even a couple of memes taped to the walls.

Yuuri was glad when Phichit came back with two pints of beer.

“Cheers,” he grinned and toasted in Yuuri's direction.

Yuuri wasn't much of a drinker so he eyed the beer warily, before shrugging and taking a large gulp. It went down easily and he found he actually liked the taste.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Beer with lemonade,” Phichit shrugged.

“Sounded delicious so I thought yeah, we will try that one.”

Yuuri nodded. It really was delicious. Before he knew what had happened, he had finished his glass and Phichit laughed before making his way to the bar to get a new one.

Yuuri looked around again. So far, there was no one here that he had actually talked to before. Only a couple of people, he thought he had seen around at one point. His eyes landed on a guy he was pretty sure he had seen before and when the guy stared back, he was almost certain that there was a mutual recognition there.

The guy smiled and came over slowly.

“Hi, you're in my history lecture, aren't you?”

Yuuri nodded, captivated by the bloke's blue eyes, subconsciously wishing they were grey.

“Yeah, Yuuri,” he said pointing at himself.

“Sebastian,” he guy answered, setting his glass down and taking a step closer.

“I like what you've done to your hair,” he commented.

Yuuri tried to feign nonchalance and nodded.

“Thanks, I thought I'd try something new.”

The guy – Sebastian – nodded.

“Looks hot.”

Yuuri's cheeks immediately heated up and he had to concentrate not to splutter.

In a very over-familiar manner, Sebastian took a stray strand of Yuuri's hair between his fingers and was about to comb it back, when Yuuri saw Phichit out of the corner of his eye and he looked uncomfortable.

“Uhm, Yuuri?” he asked, eyes darting between Yuuri and Sebastian.

“I don't want to interrupt but, er, I brought someone.”

Only when Sebastian stepped back, Yuuri was able to see Viktor lurking behind Phichit. His brow was furrowed and his eyes looked wide. He fixed Sebastian with a grim look.

“Leave,” he all but growled and when recognition dawned on Sebastian, he was gone like the flash.

Yuuri looked at Phichit, at a complete loss at what to say and saw his friend fidgit uncomfortably.

“What do you want?” Yuuri directed at Viktor instead.

“Saving you from that slime-ball,” Viktor said much calmer than he had been just a moment before.

“You can thank me.”

“Thank you?” Yuuri bit out.

“I had a good time, _thanks_ for ruining it.”

He wouldn't have to admit that he had been kind of glad for the interruption. That guy had been way too close way too fast but Viktor didn't need to know that, now did he?

Viktor laughed.

“That guy is not able to give _anyone_ a good time.”

“Why? Have you tried?”

Suddenly, Viktor fixed him with a piercing stare.

“Well, no. But I am quite certain that I would give you a much better time.”

Yuuri raised one eyebrow and only barely noticed that Phichit slowly slipped away, mumbling about the toilets and thus leaving Yuuri alone with Viktor.

“Bit full of ourselves, aren't we?”

Viktor grinned cockily.

“Only the truth.”

Yuuri raised his other eyebrow.

“So far, I'm not impressed. He complimented me and made me feel special. All you've done so far is prove how incredibly arrogant you are.”

“You look amazing,” Viktor said, ignoring everything Yuuri had just told him.

“I, huh, what?”

“I said,” Viktor repeated, leaning forward so that his mouth was only inches away from Yuuri's ear.

“You look amazing.”

Yuuri felt his heart speed up. He couldn't do this. He couldn't let himself be dragged into this crazy madness that was Viktor Nikiforov. He couldn't do that to himself.

He slowly put his hands on Viktor's chest and pushed him away.

He drank half of the new beer Phichit had brought in one go and, feeling more confident than he usually was, said:

“Try again next time,” before he turned around and left, quite proud of himself for not looking back however much he craved to see the look on Viktor's face.

 


	10. Chapter 10

With his heart beating quickly in his chest, Yuuri tried to get out of the bar and sighed with relief when he felt like he could breathe again.

He wanted to feel good about himself. For standing up to Viktor, for not taking his shit and for not just standing there while he played him hot and cold.

Instead, he felt torn. Because the urge to kiss Viktor had been so strong that it had scared him. It had taken him such a high amount of strength to push him away that his victory didn't feel like one.

About five minutes later, Phichit stumbled out of the bar, looking for him.

“What the hell, bro?”

Yuuri looked at his friend wide-eyed.

“I'm sorry, I just couldn't... I mean I waited for you here...?”

Phichit just shook his head.

“I don't mean leaving. I mean what have you done to Viktor?”

Yuuri furrowed his brow. He didn't understand.

“When I came back out from the bathroom, I saw him sitting at our bar table looking like someone had died. I mean he looked so devastated that I wanted to hug him and I don't...,” he sighed.

“That's beside the point. He's crushed.”

Phichit pointed at the entrance to the bar.

“Whatever you have said or done has crushed him, Yuuri.”

Yuuri couldn't help but let out a short fit of laughter.

“I have crushed him? He just stood there, being this arrogant arsehole that he is, acting like everyone should swoon in his presence!”

Phichit looked at him sadly.

“Yuuri,” he said in a much calmer voice than the one he had used before.

“When I saw him at the bar and he recognized me? He kept glancing all around us like a lost puppy. When I told him I was there with you, his _whole being changed._ He looked so vulnerable all of a sudden. It's you Yuuri. You do that to him.”

Yuuri snorted. He didn't care that Phichit was changing sides. Yuuri couldn't afford to see Viktor's side of the situation. Not like this. Not if he was this vulnerable himself. He just couldn't.

“Let's just go home,” he finally said in a small whisper and walked in the right direction, trusting that Phichit would follow. 

 

*

 

Yuuri did feel bad for what Phichit had said to him the night before. Maybe he should try and be nice to Viktor. Maybe they could be friends.

_Be nice, be nice, be nice_ , he told himself all morning until he walked slowly into the classroom of one of the courses he had with Viktor. He sat down in his usual spot and got his notebook out, just to have something to do with his hands.

Viktor usually sat in the opposite direction from Yuuri, so he figured that a quick wave or a small smile would have to do on the being-nice-front.

Nobody was more surprised than him (literally nobody, because the girls immediately started aww-ing), when Viktor walked right up to him and sat down in the seat next to his.

“Er, good morning,” Yuuri tried but whatever he told his face, his mouth just wouldn't smile.

Viktor only grunted before getting his own books out, careful not to look at Yuuri.

_If he was this uncomfortable, he should leave_ , Yuuri thought and absolutely refused to think about what he could do to make Viktor feel more comfortable around him.

Yuuri was busy thinking about whether he should say something, when his train of thought was interrupted.

“I like your hair.”

It sounded small, unsure. Kind of shy.

Yuuri turned to Viktor and gaped at him.  
“What?”

“Your hair. I mean I liked it the way you have worn it yesterday but I kind of like it more like this,” he indicated Yuuri's head.

“It suits your personality.”

Yuuri snorted, because at this point it was the only thing he knew how to do. Snort and gape. That was it.

“Yeah right,” he mumbled.

“Because you know so much about my personality.”

Viktor chose to stay silent after that and the course started soon after.

Yuuri thought that that would have been it. The awkward conversation they apparently must have everytime they see each other. 

But Viktor spoke up again, after the course, when Yuuri was putting his book back into his bag.

“Your script is beautiful,” he said and this time, Yuuri opted for the other thing he knew how to do: he gaped.

He gaped when Viktor shouldered his back, he gaped when Viktor nodded at him as a good-bye and he still gaped, when Viktor was long gone.

What the hell had just happened?

 

*

 

Yuuri felt much safer the next time when he saw Viktor. He tripped over his own two feet and fell to the floor in the hall. The first thing he heard? Laughter. When he looked up, he saw Viktor and his minions nearby, roaring as if it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.

This was the Viktor Yuuri knew. This was the Viktor he could deal with. He walked past them and if he 'accidentally' shoved Viktor with his shoulder, then well... that was nobodys business.

 

*

 

“I like your cardigan.”

Yuuri looked up from where he was sitting at a table in the student café, reading.

“I beg your pardon?”

He asked when Viktor wasn't saying anything more.

“I said I like your cardigan, it looks comfortable.”

Silence. Yuuri really didn't know what to say to that.

“Well, it is,” he finally croaked out and went back to reading his book.

That was when the chair opposite him was pulled out and Viktor sat in it, placing his own coffee right next to Yuuri's.

Yuuri looked at the two beverages next to each other and then at Viktor.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Viktor shrugged.

“Sitting down? Trying to enjoy my coffee?”

“Why are you sitting down at my table?”

Viktor smirked.

“Well, free country, isn't it? Seems like your table was as good a place as any.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes until a motion caught his eye.

“You're wearing the ring,” he almost whispered before he knew what he was doing.

He looked up just in time to see Viktor take a deep breath before saying:

“And you're not.”

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. The rawness of his voice made Yuuri's breath hitch.

He had noticed. 

They stared at each other for a couple of minutes, lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Yuuri cleared his throat.

“Why are you doing this?”

“What?”

“Talking to me?”

Viktor shrugged again.

“You said I should try again next time. That's what I'm doing.”

Yuuri laughed without any humour.

“So this is all like a game to you, is it? Make the geeky kid like you, is that it? Is this your revenge for being teamed up with me on that first day? Because I've got news for you but I didn't have that much fun either,” Yuuri started, speaking quicker and quicker with every word, “Am I a difficult task that you can use to level up in the uni's social ranks or whatever?”

Viktor giggled.

“Level up? God, you're such a nerd.”

That was all Yuuri could take.

He stood up so quickly that he almost spilled his coffee, grabbed his bag and left as fast as he could. After everything? He didn't want to have to add 'Viktor has seen me cry' to the list of things he hated about the other boy. So he ran home and only let his tears fall freely, when his head was secured safely in his favourite pillow.

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

When Phichit got to Yuuri's flat that evening, he found his friend lying very still on the sofa, sniffling occasionally and watching Dirty Dancing. Yuuri hadn't even noticed his friend coming in and alternated between watching the film and staring at his ring which he kept turning in his hand.

“Yuuri?” Phichit asked softly, trying to speak to him like he would to a wounded animal.

“What's wrong?”

For a while, Yuuri said nothing and Phichit got out of his shoes and jacket before Yuuri started to talk.

“I think I love him.”

Phichit faltered in what he was doing (namely, trying to put the kettle on to make himself a serving of ramen) and quickly walked to the sofa.

“You what?”

Yuuri looked at him with red eyes and it was only then that Phichit realised that he must have been crying for a long time.

“I love him. I know I shouldn't. He is mean to me and he's generally a dick most of the time but I just...The more I keep thinking about it, the more I think that the guy who kissed my hand, who rejected that girl so nicely... I am in love with him.”

“Yuuri...”

Yuuri sat up and hugged a pillow to his chest.

“No. No, Phichit really. I think that he is a lovable person, he just... isn't... to me.”

Phichit walked back into the kitchen to return the kettle to his rightful place and then made his way to his bag. He got out a large folder and made Yuuri move over so he could sit down next to him.

He looked at his friend seriously.

“Okay, Yuuri. I got something here and I want you to look at it. I just want you to look at it. You don't need to talk to me about it or comment it and I promise I won't comment either except for when you want me to, alright?”

Yuuri nodded warily, a bit anxious of what Phichit was going to get out of that folder.

Whatever he imagined, it wasn't this.

Phichit retrieved a stack of photographs and held them out to Yuuri.

He could see students, smiling and being happy. It only took him a second to recognise the occasion.

“Freshmen week,” he whispered and started shaking. He hadn't even noticed that someone had taken photographs. Suddenly, he was very nervous. Were there pictures of him and Viktor? Would he look at the other boy longingly? Would said boy stare back in hatred?

“I'm not sure I can look at them,” he finally admitted and tried handing them back over but Phichit just shook his head.

“You should.”

For a moment, Yuuri just looked at his friend, sighed and studied the first picture. It wasn't of him and Viktor but the more he looked at it, the more he saw in the background. Then he spotted them. Walking side by side, grinning. Both of them.

He looked at the next picture.

It was him and Viktor with their ankles bound together, trying to hold each other upright by their waists. Yuuri thought that he could still feel the ghost of Viktor's hand on his waist and blushed. But Viktor's hand wasn't the thing that captured him most. It was the way he looked at Viktor. Could he be more pathetically in love?

He snickered.

“I think I fell for him right then and there...” he looked at Phichit and smiled sadly.

Phichit looked equally sad when he returned the searching look and urged him to look at the other pictures.

The next picture showed Viktor and Yuuri sitting on the bench where Yuuri had tied and untied their ankles together. This time, Yuuri didn't even look at the whole picture. The only thing he was able to see was Viktor and the face he made.

His eyes rested on Yuuri's face and a small smile played around his lips. His eyes looked soft and a little bit sad.

Yuuri started shaking slightly and quickly moved on to the next picture: Yuuri and Viktor walking side by side to the next work station. Yuuri was gesticulating widely from the look of it and Viktor had that same look. Next picture: The two of them standing together at the closing ceremony. Yuuri looked towards the stage, Viktor looked at him. Same face.

Yuuri put the pictures down and looked at Phichit again.

“He looks...”

“...absolutely besotted.”

Yuuri wanted to disagree. Wanted to tell him how Viktor treated him that day. But there was no trace of the animosity he had felt that week. Instead, Viktor looked like the two of them were the most love-filled couple on this earth and it made Yuuri speechless.

“I, but he...”

Phichit shrugged.

“Hasn't he told you he had problems with being in love before?”

Yuuri thought back to that particular conversation and nodded.

“He said they laughed in his face.”

There was a beat of silence, before Phichit spoke up again.

“So there you have it.”

He stood up to make his way to the kitchen so that he could finally make his instant noodles and left Yuuri sitting on the sofa, going through the pictures again.

“Are you going to talk to him?”

Phichit wanted to know, but Yuuri shrugged.

“I think I will have to. Soon. I need to know what is happening,” he finally.

“But not today.”

“Tomorrow?” Phichit asked hopefully.

“Tomorrow is Saturday.”

“So? You have his adress, right?”

“I am not going to his house.”

Phichit laughed.

“Right. Monday then.”

They sat in silence for a while. The only thing audible was Phichit slurping his soup.

“Before I forget,” he announced between two mouthfuls, “I was handed this flyer for a jewellery pop up shop? Apparently it's from this up-and-coming Russian designer and since I'm flying home soon, I thought this might be a nice souvenir for my mum. You know how much she loves fancy jewellery. Do you want to go there with me tomorrow?”

Yuuri nodded absent mindedly and kept playing with his ring.

“Sure,” he said and Phichit looked content.

 

*

 

The next morning found Yuuri in better spirits than he had been the day before. A good cry can heal, he always said. Since he had promised to go out with Phichit, he thought that making himself look handsome (for his own sake), wouldn't hurt. That's why he chose to wear his favourite dark green jumper and combined it with the skinny jeans, Phichit had brought him for their evening out in the bar. In the end, he even chose to put on the ring before leaving the house. Because really, what were the chances of running into Viktor in a pop-up jewellery shop?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a head up, one chapter left...


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guuuuys, this is the last chapter! It has been a blast writing this and please please give the manga a try, it's so much better than this fic!  
> Keep subscribed tho this if you want to read the extra I have planned for a few scened from Viktor's POV (but I don't know yet when I will find time for this).  
> Thank you so much for reading and all of the support, you guys are amazing!

The shop was very small but pretty. It was set up in a shopping mall in a temorarily closed down shop. The store was called 'Agape' and Phichit was incredibly excited about it. He ran from shelf to shelf and inspected everything closely. Yuuri couldn't help but smile at his friend but he was incredibly sad that he would fly back to Thailand soon. He let his eyes roam over the offered goods himself and liked that there was a whole section for male jewellery. He studied the various rings and considered buying a new one. On the one hand, he felt like he should and finally move on. On the other hand, not so much. He loved his ring. Loved it even more since it had a twin, even if he didn't wear it that often anymore. He still carried it around in his pocket wherever he went because really... it was a part of him. 

Phichit had found something that his mother would like (a hand crafted necklace with a pink stone charm). He quickly brought it to the counter, where a very bored looking girl flicked through a magazine.

“Hi, uhm, sorry but do you have this in green as well?” he asked, turning back to Yuuri.

“Green is her favourite colour,” he explained.

The girl took a quick look at the stone and drawled:

“I'll bring the designer right out. See if he can do anything.”

With that, she disappeared in the back-room.

When she came back out, Yuuri froze to the spot. He had seen that young, blond boy before.

“Hi,” the boy said and his gaze flicked from his and Phichit's faces to Yuuri's hand and back up. The professional smile was still in place, when he introduced himself:

“My name is Yuri and I am the owner of this shop. So good to have you two here. What can I help you boys with?”

Yuuri immediately admired the confidence the obviously younger boy gave off. It most definately was the boy they had seen Viktor with a couple of days ago. He seemed to be naturally comfortable with himself and his work and patiently explained Phichit the different possibilities on how they could alter the necklace. Yuuri decided to go back to the rings and sort through them. He couldn't believe that they were actually talking to the guy Viktor smiled at as if he hung the moon in the sky. He really couldn't.

Suddenly, he felt a presence beside him and when he looked up, he saw Yuri standing there, grinning.

“Anything I can help you with?” he asked and Yuuri wanted nothing more to run away. He really didn't need to compare himself to this guy on top of everything else.

“Er,” he managed before he tried looking around for Phichit.

“Oh, he's in the back with Sabrina, picking out the stone he wants for the necklace,” Yuri explained, still smiling.

“Alright,” Yuuri said, trying to look anywhere but the other man.

“Er, I'm just -”

“I love your ring,” he was interrupted by Yuri who took Yuuri's hand in his to inspect his ring more closely.

“You know, I made a ring for a friend a couple of weeks ago... and it looks just like this one,” he exclaimed in glee.

“What do you mean?”

Yuuri was startled by Pichit's sudden re-appearance.

Yuri smirked as if he knew something the other two didn't.

“It's quite romantic, actually... a bit creepy maybe, but eh,” he started, shrugging at the end of the sentence.

“So a family friend – basically my brother – talked my ear off about this boy he had met in uni. Now while I don't care much for men, I listened dutifully.”

He sighed dramatically.

“Then I came here, for my pop-up shop. You know, for my America tour, he came to me with this ring,” he indicated Yuuri's hand.

“Which kind of looked exactly like this! And he asked me to make him a replica of it. He even told me to keep it as it is and not to experiment on it creatively.”

He pouted before looking at his costumers again.

“It had to be done within a day because apparently his crush didn't know that his ring was missing.”

Yuuri's heart beat faster with every word. He stared at his own hand open-mouthed and remembered that one day where he had lost his ring and found it in his locker the next.

“So I made it for him. As far as I know though, it hasn't changed anything. He isn't the luckiest when it comes to love, mind. But I had high hopes for this one because from what Viktor has told me, he seems really quite lovely.

That was the moment Yuuri broke.

“Did you say Viktor?” he asked breathlessly and Yuri just nodded.

“Viktor Nikiforov, do you know him? You look like you are the same age, he goes to the local university?”

But Yuuri couldn't even contemplate what Yuri was saying. His mind was reeling and all he saw was Viktor's face, stealing his ring just so he could have a replica.

He glanced at Phichit, who looked just as alert.

“Go, for fucks sake, just go!” his best friend all but screamed. That's when his legs decided to set into motion and he ran from the store.

“Aw man, something I said?” Yuri snickered and Phichit studied him warily.

“You knew who he was, didn't you? Yuuri?”

Yuri just looked at Phichit and a smile spread out on his face.

“Saw him on a picture once...or twice. Or a million times,” he motioned to the counter.

“Let's get yourself that necklace, yeah?”

 

*

 

In record time, Yuuri made his way to the other side of town where he knew Viktor to live. He didn't even have the patience to wait for the subway, he just needed to talk to Viktor. Make sense of all that was happening. To just _understand_.

When he arrived, he saw a familiar head of silver hair sitting on the stairs to the building. Panting, Yuuri stopped and when he had caught his breath, looked at Viktor.

“What the hell, Viktor?”

Viktor looked more than uncomfortable and winced at the tone Yuuri talked to him in.

He suddenly looked so scared and small, that Yuuri could only stare at him.

When it was clear that the older boy wouldn't say anything, Yuuri decided to keep speaking:

“Just... I don't know what's happening Viktor. I just don't know. I am so confused all the time and it's driving me crazy. Just... could you just please talk to me?”

Finally, Viktor looked up.

“What do you want to know?” he asked slowly and carefully.

“Well for a start, what are you doing outside on the stairs to your building?” Yuuri asked because it had just hit him that Viktor was actually sitting on the steps like he was waiting for him.

“Yuri called.”

Yuuri huffed.

“Oh, so Yuri called. Great. Grand. You talk to Yuri then?”

Viktor nodded.

“Why do you not talk to me?”

“What do you want me to say?”

Viktor stood up slowly and took a step forward so that him and Yuuri weren't that far apart anymore.

“I want the truth, Viktor.”

Viktor was silent and just stared at the other boy.

“Yuri has already told you everything,” he mumbled.

Yuuri cocked his head to the side.

“I want-” he stopped and bit his bottom lip nervously.

“I _need_ to hear it from you,” he almost whispered.

Viktor's face fell until there was nothing left of the usual confidence. Instead, he looked rather nervous.

Yuuri wanted nothing more than to hug the hell out of him but decided to stay strong. Not to give the other boy the easy way out after all the time that Yuuri himself had suffered for his feelings. So he just waited.

“I...” Viktor started and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath.

“Shit, this is difficult,” he grit out and shut his eyes more closely before opening them and looking straight at Yuuri.

“So, here goes... Yuuri, I love you.”

Yuuri felt like his knees would give out any second and he tried his best to remain upright. He had not expected an 'I love you'. He had never heard anything similar in his life before. He had counted more of a 'you don't suck that much' or 'you are tolerable', but certainly no 'I love you'. He gaped at Viktor and thought that had been it but it seemed like Viktor was only getting started:

“I fell for you the moment you said hello,” he rushed out.

“You are adorable Yuuri and you don't even know it. You probably don't remember but I don't have the best track record with... falling in love. The first and last guy I fell in love with was... not good for me. And he laughed at me when he found out about my feelings and called me all kinds of names. And I realise I have treated you badly. I have called you all sorts of things and I don't expect you to forgive me. And if you want to leave, then leave and I will never bother you again. I know I was horrible but I have been hurt so badly before, I was so scared. When I saw how carefree you laugh and how you keep your heart on your sleeve... I knew that you could be dangerous for me. And I was terrified that you would laugh at me if you ever find out so... please... don't. Whatever you do, just please don't laugh and...” Viktor started to fidget and nervously ran his hand through his hair.

“I just,” he sighed.

“I just really really like you. And I realised I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I was overwhelmed by my feelings,” he glanced at Yuuri's hand.

“Both times. Please, Yuuri, if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I'd... I'd be so happy. I will never bother you again,” he promised and thus ended his little speech.

Yuuri still gaped at him, feeling as if all the air had been punched out of his lungs.

“You... love me.”

Viktor nodded.

Suddenly, Yuuri remembered something:

“When you told that girl that you loved a boy...?”

“That boy was you, _is_ you.”

“And you...”

“I just love you, alright? I just do. I love you with all of my being and if you could manage, please don't flirt with anyone else in front of me? I thought I would have to rip the guys eyes out...”

Yuuri thought back to the incident at the bar and kept quietly chewing on his bottom lip.

“That won't be a problem,” he finally said and looked up.

“What won't?”

“The me flirting with someone else.”

“If you could make sure I'm not around it would be highly apprechiated.”

“Oh, I will make sure you _will_ be around,” Yuuri said in a low voice and took a step forward, towards Viktor.

“Because I only plan on flirting with you,” he mumbled while his gaze flicked to Viktor's lips.

Slowly he leaned forward and pressed their lips together. Viktor made a surprised noise but let himself fall into the kiss immediately.

When Yuuri pulled away slightly, he kept a firm grip on Viktor's neck and whispered against the other's lips:

“I'm not saying I'm letting you off the hook for being such a dick all of the time. But you can start making it up to me.”

Viktor snorted.

“I will certainly try.”

He captured Yuuri's mouth in a slow kiss again and they just stood there, in the middle of the day, kissing like they were the only two people in the world.

Little did they know that at the same time, Yuri and Phichit opened up a bottle of wine to celebrate a job well done. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry guys, I just reread "Only the Ringfinger knows" and I had to. If you haven't read it, read it. It's such an incredible underrated manga!


End file.
